BHOPAL: Even before the final vote polled in Datia was counted and celebrations took hold in the Congress camp, the bypoll verdict triggered a battle of narratives.While the BJP made peace with the outcome and accepted defeat with grace, while promising a review; the Congress sought to portray the win as the first clear signs of the shifting political headwinds in Madhya Pradesh going into the 2028 assembly elections.Responding to media queries on the verdict, chief minister Mohan Yadav put up a brave face, asserting that the bypoll setback hadn’t altered the BJP’s larger electoral dominance in the state. Though the BJP came out on the losing side, it did poll 1,700 more votes than it did in Datia in the 2023 assembly election.
Supporting his argument, he pointed to the BJP’s electoral track record, reminding mediapersons how the party regained Budhni and wrested Ambarwara from the Congress in previous assembly bypolls, adding that the BJP was the first political party to win all 29 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2024 general elections. “Elections are won and lost in a democracy. We put forth our views before the people and the Congress put theirs. We accept the people’s mandate and are hopeful of contesting future polls with even more strength,” the CM told reporters after the bypoll defeat. BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal, too, accepted the Datia verdict but vowed to review and introspect on what went wrong.“The people of Datia have spoken and we humbly accept the mandate. However, we will hold a proper review of the outcome. Anyone found guilty of disturbing party discipline will certainly face action,” Khandelwal said, hinting that internal sabotage behind the BJP’s undoing.Ashutosh Tiwari, whom the BJP picked as its face for the bypoll, overlooking heavyweight former minister and three-time Datia MLA Narottam Mishra, said he accepts the mandate with grace.The bypoll reverse also put the spotlight back on Mishra, the former state home minister, who earlier predicted victory for the BJP, saying elections are fought and won through ‘collective effort’ and not the personal charisma of an individual.However, as the Congress closed its gap with the BJP and widened its lead thereafter, Mishra disappeared from the public eye. Sources said he interacted with the media till 2 pm, but was not seen thereafter. His residence in Bhopal’s Char Imli was later found locked, prompting many to question if the denial of the bypoll ticket to one of the BJP’s senior-most leaders in the state eventually cost the party.The Congress, meanwhile, weaved the Datia verdict into a larger political message. State president Jitu Patwari thanked Datia’s voters for rejecting what he called the politics of revenge and misuse of power, saying the victory was the outcome of organisational work “at every level”.He credited party workers across the state, as well as the high command, saying the win shows that the issues consistently raised by Rahul Gandhi, resonated with voters in Datia. Defending the suspension of disqualified former MLA Rajendra Bharti, on the eve of the bypoll counting, over alleged anti-party activities, Patwari said the party stood by him during difficult times but removed him to send a message that it wouldn’t tolerate indiscipline when fighting the BJP.
